Trustees: Main Street water line needs repair

November 20, 2012

LAKE PLACID - A water line on Main Street will need to be replaced soon, according to village trustees.

Trustee Peter Holderied said Monday that a 6-inch water main that runs between the state Olympic Regional Development Authority and the traffic light at the intersection of Main Street and Mill Hill is "way undersized, really old and very thin." He said there have been several breaks along that line in recent years.

"It seems like two out of three or three out of four times there's a break, it's in this section," Holderied said. "At some point, it needs to be done, so I asked (village Department of Public Works Superintendent Brad Hathaway) to look into it."

"This is a big deal," Mayor Craig Randall said. "If this line continues to cause these types of eruptions, we can expect to see more, and it isn't going to get any better."

Holderied said there was a break in the water line last week. It happened near Norm's Plus barber shop, Randall said, and it caused water to bubble to the surface across the street in the parking lot next to High Peak's Cyclery.

The water line runs down the west side of Main Street, Holderied explained, on the same side of the road as the Lake Placid Middle-High School and the Olympic Speedskating Oval.

"We've had breaks here in front of the (North Elba) Town Hall, breaks in front of Norm's and Mr. Mike's (pizzeria)," Randall said. "I think it's probably an early warning that we're going to be dealing with more serious issues with that water main."

Trustee Zay Curtis said the village will need to dig up the old water line, replace it and then repave Main Street. Trustee Jason Leon asked if the state would be responsible for repaving the road, since it's part of state Route 86.

The mayor said he wanted the community to know that the village is aware of the problems with the water line and is looking into solutions. He added that it's early in the process and more details will be discussed soon.

The board didn't discuss a time table for repairing or replacing the line, and potential costs of the project weren't addressed.

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Bid opening

On Friday, the village opened bids on the Mid's Park band shell project. The bids ranged from $362,100 to $408,000, well above anticipated expenses.

Randall said none of the bids were accepted. They will be turned over to project engineer Ivan Zdrahal and Bill Billerman, a member of the Lake Placid Bandshell Fundraising Committee, for further review. The bids were entered into the meeting minutes, but no action was taken.

"This project, at the moment, cannot get started this year until we resolve the difference between what we thought the cost would be and what came out," Randall said. "This is not unlike what happened with the tennis court project a couple of years ago when we did it. ... Most likely this will end up getting a re-bid some place down the road."